Tag Archives: Seasons Greenings

Season’s Greenings at the U.S. Botanic Garden

Posted on November 17, 2023 | Leave a comment

Model of the U.S. Capitol Building

Here is something to do with the family during the holidays. “Season’s Greenings” is back at the U.S. Botanic Garden in DC. The exhibit will run from Thanksgiving Day, November 23, through New Year’s Day, January 1, 2024, and closed on Christmas, December 25. This holiday display is both indoors and outdoors.

Outdoors, G-gauge model trains will circulate through displays of pollinators made from plant parts. These scenes will range from oversized models of native U.S. flowers, butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds to an orchid bee pollinating a vanilla orchid flower, a chocolate midge pollinating a cacao flower, a lemur pollinating a traveler’s tree flower, and more! The trains will run between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. each day.

Inside the Conservatory, holiday decorations will include nearly 2,000 colorful poinsettias and the Garden’s collection of DC monuments and landmarks, such as the U.S. Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial, all made from plant parts. Recent additions to the collection will return, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the U.S. Botanic Garden’s historic 1800s Conservatory and Palm House interior, and the National Gallery of Art East Wing.

A gift store managed by the Friends of the U.S. Botanic Garden and local DC small business Rewild will offer botanically themed gifts for purchase in the Conservatory’s West Gallery. Zeke’s Coffee will offer coffee, hot chocolate, and snacks for sale near the trains on select days.

Lincoln Memorial

The Conservatory is open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, the gated outdoor gardens are open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, and the Terrace Gardens and Bartholdi Gardens are open dawn to dusk daily. The Garden will be closed December 25. Tickets are not required to view the trains or any part of the U.S. Botanic Garden. The trains will run between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. each day and may not operate during inclement weather.

The Garden will offer extended evening hours on three Thursdays: December 14, December 21, and December 28. The Conservatory and train display will be open until 8:00 p.m. these evenings, with live seasonal music to enjoy while exploring the holiday displays and plants in the Conservatory.

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Season’s Greenings Exhibit at Washington DC’s U.S. Botanic Garden

Posted on November 23, 2018 | 1 comment

Check out the U.S. Botanic Garden’s holiday season exhibit, Season’s Greenings: All Aboard. Season’s Greenings showcases historic railroad stations across the country including three Maryland stations (Ellicott City, Viaduct Hotel, and Point of Rocks) and DC’s own Union Station. Each year, the U.S. Botanic Garden staff and Applied Imagination of Alexandria, Kentucky, collaborate to create a theme and then to build the plant-based sculptures based on that theme. All the train stations are made of plant materials.

Salt Lake City Union Pacific Depot, Utah

Clock of Salt Lake City Union Pacific Depot made of cinnamon, acorn cap, anise fruit and driftwood

There are more than 20 replicas of railroad stations and two fantasy stations: Dino Depot (a large dinosaur) and the North Pole. Located in the West Gallery, the iconic stations take up the entire room with G gauge model trains running through. In addition, there is a “caboose” tall enough for kids to walk through to view dioramas of peanut farms, citrus groves, and grain fields. Outside the U.S. Botanic Garden at the front entrance is another train set among winter greens.

Point of Rocks Station, Maryland

In the Garden Court, there are 12 Washington DC landmarks plus the new Union Station. Each building is constructed on a frame of acrylic-based foam, casting resin is poured in the window cutouts, and wall surfaces are finished with sand-based grout. Each building is made of plant materials and if you look closely, you will see everything from walnuts to acorns.

Union Station in Washington DC

Statues of Union Station are made of corn husks, tulip poplar seeds, lafi pods, and other plant materials.

National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC

Walnut shells on walls of Nat. Museum of African American History and Culture

Also in the Garden Court are thousands of poinsettias, from traditional red, to white, marbled, and lime green. Upright, red twigs and fully decorated live trees punctuate each river of poinsettias.

Many different types of poinsettias among ferns, red twigs, and decorated trees

The Season’s Greenings exhibit runs from Thanksgiving to January 1, 2019. The U.S. Botanic Garden, located at 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington DC, is open to the public, free of charge, every day of the year from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. On most Tuesdays and Thursdays in December the Conservatory will be open until 8:00 pm for live seasonal music concerts and after-dark holiday exhibit viewing. For more information and the music schedule, visit http://www.usbg.gov.

Cincinnati Union Terminal, Ohio

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U.S. Botanic Garden’s Holiday Exhibit Features Iconic Roadside Attractions

Posted on November 20, 2017 | Leave a comment

With school closed for the holidays, the kids at home and the in-laws in town, what is the perfect indoor activity for all of you to enjoy? Take a trip downtown to U.S. Botanic Garden. Their holiday exhibit, Season’s Greenings: Roadside Attractions, will open Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2017, and run through January 1, 2018. This year, the holiday show will feature roadside attractions. Model trains will wind around plant-based recreations of iconic American sights such as Texas’ Cadillac Ranch, Colorado’s hot-dog-shaped Coney Island Hot Dog Stand, South Dakota’s Corn Palace, and New Jersey’s Lucy the Elephant. All of these will be made from plants and other natural materials.

Plus there will be the signature Washington DC landmarks made from plant materials including the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the new National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The U.S. Botanic Garden will be decorated for the season with wreaths, garlands, and more than 30 varieties of poinsettias — the perfect place for holiday family photos! The U.S. Botanic Garden is open to the public, free of charge, every day of the year from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Tuesdays and Thursdays in December, the Conservatory will be open until 8 p.m. for live seasonal music concerts and after-dark holiday exhibit viewing.

The Conservatory is located at 100 Maryland Ave. SW, on the southwest side of the U.S. Capitol. Visitors are encouraged to use public transportation. More information is available at www.USBG.gov/SeasonsGreenings

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